We went to Macy's and saw why the brand is a disaster

[Liberal_in_LA]

From Coach bags to Kate Spade to Louis Vuitton to high-end makeup, it's an affluent shopper's dream.



Walk up one flight to the lower-tier handbags and the facade starts to erode.





The clutter is also evident of Macy's inventory problem ... and simply a lack of attention and care.



This is one of multiple clearance rooms filled with unwanted shoes. No one wants them.

http://www.businessinsider.com/macys-tour-and-business-analysis-2016-5?utm_source=hearst&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=allverticals#/#walk-up-one-flight-to-the-lower-tier-handbags-and-the-facade-starts-to-erode-4

[femmocrat]

1. I used to find good bargains in Macy's with their coupons and star rewards.

I haven't been in there in about two years though. I have more clothes and shoes than I will ever wear.

[Warpy]

2. That's the other problem

I think most of us are looking at what we've got cluttering up our closets and our lives and realizing we don't need any more of it.

[femmocrat]

3. Agree!

It is time to scale back and simplify!

[malaise]

8. I went on what I described as my last big shopping spree last year

I replaced sheets, towels and so on. I had a blast in Macy's. We went to a few other stores but I got decent stuff and great prices (sis is a coupon queen and saved up for me). I got some real bargains.

[Skittles]

4. whenever I walk through any women's shoe department

I think to myself, if I sat down and tried to design the ugliest shoe possible, I would not come close to the shoes I routinely see in stores

women want to be taken seriously, then dress up in ridiculously clownish shoes

and don't even get me started on the hideous "high end purses"

[malaise]

9. Ugly shoes appear to be in fashion

I'm so out of it I don't own a high end purse but have a lovely wallet that Florida sis bought on sale. Those bags are way overpriced. I still have two of my mom's purses and she's been dead almost 22 years. You have to dig deep to find the brand name but none of the modern ones are of that quality.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. I hate Macys

Awful, chaotic experience. They should take tips from Target. That lower tier retailer (the ones I've been in and one I go to once a month) are clean, organized, and have visible employees.

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. Macy's and several other retailers went downhill

when they quit checking people out in the departments and started checking everyone out in one place ala Walmart and Target. That means fewer people on the floor keeping things straight, cleaning out the fitting rooms etc. I worked for Dillard's part time and seasonal for 13 years when you could still ring people up in the department and provide some actual customer service.

[niyad]

7. sadly, the dillard's here is now a close-out store. pity, because I used to like it.

and the same mall lost its macy's a number of years ago. nothing has taken that huge space yet.

[TexasBushwhacker]

10. Yeah, we have a dead mall too

It's an area of Houston that has become high crime. It's called Greenspoint Mall but its nickname is Gunpoint Mall.

[niyad]

11. that is really sad. we don't really have major problems at the non-macy mall, but it is disturbing

to see so many empty storefronts.

[tom_kelly]

14. I worked for a Houston based company

who had us staying at a hotel across the street from that mall. We were always reminded not to leave the hotel at night.

[bermudat]

22. Awww, I remember when Greenspoint and Sharpstown Mall was da bomb.

Of course that was in the 1980's.

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. Yeah I grew up in Sharpstown

The mall was very dead for several years but now it is PlazAmericas. I don't know how well it's doing in its new persona. Meyerland and Town and Country have been resurrected.

[MissB]

12. Our Macy's is nothing like that.

Looks like a merchandising issue in the store.

I love our local Macy's. Their make up department is awesomely diverse.

[Liz_Estrada]

13. First world problem?

My clothes shopping all happens at Goodwill and SVDP. And the quality is usually better than Walmart.

[tom_kelly]

15. There's a Humane Society thrift shop near me

They have a $2 room of men's "stuff." I've bought some great shirts for 2 bucks.

[jtuck004]

18. They have things at Goodwill because people shopped at Macy's or Walmart and discarded it.

So the quality is exactly the same.

We shop at the secondhand stores almost exclusively, but without the others (Macy's or Kmart) they would not exist.

You are correct, it is at first glance a "higher end" problem, but do we tear them down or build everyone else up? As they have gone downhill the nation is getting poorer. Or maybe as the nation has gotten poorer they have gone downhill.

The IWW philosophy (and mine) was that an injury to one is an injury to all. This may be an example of that.

I meant to add - we live in WA state, and the secondhand stores have figured out that it is good business to charge as much as they can, so they are far less a good deal than they used to be. That is good for the retailers, because it makes the choice much less clear.

[Festivito]

16. Decades of productivity increases, borrowing increases with no wage increases.

We quietly downsize. Cheaper fewer clothes. New car in five years not two years or each year. Used car, not a new one.

A billion here a billion there between a thousand representatives and pretty soon it adds up to real money.

Well, ...

A hundred here, a thousand there for a hundred million people and it adds up to real money too.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. Macy's bought out Marshall Field, which had previously bought out

the Minneapolis institution known as Dayton's.

Dayton's was a Twin Cities institution, renowned for quality and community service.

Now, meh.

[SusanLarson]

19. I am a thrift store girl

They have nothing I want...

[Iwillnevergiveup]

20. Gosh, growing up near NYC

and having B Bltman, Bonwit Teller, Bloomingdale's, Saks, Macy's, Lord & Taylor, Best & Company nearby really spoiled me rotten. They were all beautiful stores with excellent customer service and my mother was a champ of watching for sales. We rarely paid full price for anything. How many department stores are now gone....a real shame.

Oh yes, here in CA, BUFFUMS. How many began with letter "B".

[IcyPeas]

21. size markers on coat hangers

this drives me crazy. the clothes are stuffed on a rack, so you look at the little size marker on the coat hanger. So you pull out your size AND IT'S NOT THE CORRECT SIZE - it doesn't match the size on the garment. Target is better at Macy's at this. What it says on the coat hanger tag is always what it is. Why can't they use the correct marker for the size????? This is a little thing that they can and should do. If they want to consider themselves an up market store, not a TJ Maxx. Places like TJ Maxx at least have their sizes in order.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. That is annoying